i'm carl quintanilla. brian williams will be back on monday. for all of us at nbc news, merry christmas. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com . >>> from last-minute donations to last-minute shopping, thousands of people are still out at bay area malls and storms. time is running out. good evening on this christmas eve. tom is off tonight celebrating with his family. shoppers came back in force this year, spending more than expected on family, friends and b

i'm carl quintanilla in tonight for brian williams. those monster storms pelting southern california tonight have left a new problem, mudslides. hundreds of homes have been evacuated or destroyed. trash and pesticides are leaking into waterways and closing beaches. despite the return of sunshine today, the region is struggling to clean up two days before christmas. nbc's miguel almaguer is in highland, california tonight. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: carl, good evening. the city was a bull's-eye for the storm, a river of mud flowed right through this neighborhood. tonight, it's still several feet deep. although the weather and rain have passed, it may return. highland is a devastated city just before christmas. fire crews were shoveling to help residents get in their homes. ramone perez feels lucky his house was spared. he's helping neighbors. >> look at the devastation, this close to christmas. >> reporter: there's still a mudslide threat to 140 homes under a saturated ground. but for 26 houses, the damage is done. >> at first,

carl quintanilla, good morning. >> good morning. new census figures are out and they are going to give more political clout to southern and western states. population growth means texas will gain four additional seats in the house. florida adds two more. new york and ohio will each lose two seats because of population declines. according to census the u.s. is home to more than 308 million people. the senate is moving towards a final vote on the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty that president obama signed with russia back in april. it appears enough republicans will vote with democrats to ratify the treaty. senate is also expected to take a test vote today on a scaled back $6 billion health care bill for first respond earns others who became sick after working at ground zero. >>> rescue crews are on alert in southern california with forecasters say a seventh straight dave rain today date of birth heaviest yet. six california counties have declared states of emergency. the fear of mudslides tuesday forced evacuation of 230 homes. heavy rainfall

i'm amy robach along can carl quintanilla. and coming up, last-minute shoppers, you know who you are. let's take a look at macy's right now. yep, there they are. this is the scene being repeated at malls and local shops. we're going to have the latest on the christmas eve crunch for presents. and also coming up, if your wallet is feeling a little too light this morning, we have the inside scoop on how to save big in the new year. coupons. it's not just about clipping them anymore. we'll show you how to be savvy for printing online and get specific coupons. >> that's right. also, you may not get a white christmas in the northeast. but if you're looking forward to a white christmas but then you want to go away and get somewhere warm, we'll have travel tips for you from hawaii to barbados. a pile of affordable warm weather vacations. you may just want to find them in your stocking. it was 71 in miami today. >> that sounds good. with the holiday cheer slowing this time of year and yes, we're talking egg nog and all the other thing

. >> i'm matt lauer, along with tamron hall and carl quintanilla. >> if you don't want to brave the malls at this time of year. make the gifts. make the gifts you want to give to other people. we're going to join her in the kitchen to find out about some of her ideas. >>> we're reconnecting with the 45 dogs who found loving homes, courtesy of the "today" show. >>> plus you know how hard it is to keep a diet during the weekend. we'll show you what to bring to a party and some low calorie eggnog. >>> we have got a lot to get to, let's get a check of the weather. al's off today. we have got stephanie abrams doing the foirg. >> i found a football crowd. let's talk about the white christmas forecast. santa, pay attention. historically speaking, in new york city, a 10% chancef a white christmas. minneapolis, a 73% chance of a white christmas. and right now new york city is right on the edge of a white christmas. we have a storm system tracking across the country, so it's a little iffy. >>> there's the an mateo bridge looking dry. the clouds are filling in of king out the sun andll the lightning